Paradise
by The Italian Peach
Summary: [TATE, Oneshot] “I need to get out of here. It's too cramped. I've got to move.” Tony, Kate, and a piece of paradise. Has reference to Twilight.


Remember! **Strawberry Fizz is The Italian Peach**!

**Hell-of-Fire**: I AM SOOOO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO RUIN IT FOR YOU! It's just that since Twilight was so long ago, I figured that everyone who read stuff here knew that Kate's gone. Forgive me? Hands over cookie

And yes, for this fic, the end does have implied mention to Twilight, so…you know, just a head's up.

I had to get this one out of my system.

Disclaimer: NCIS belongs to DPB.

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Tony awoke to her voice. "Tony," she whispered, "Get up." Rubbing the remnants of sleep away from his eyes, he looked up to see he was still in the NCIS bullpen. Gibbs and McGee were slouched over their desks, their desk lights flickering.

"Kate?" he asked groggily, not fully awake. "What time is it?"

She glanced at her watch. "Three in the morning."

Tony let out a groan and dropped his head back onto the desk. She shook him again. "We have to go," she whispered.

"Why? What are we doing in the bullpen anyways?" His voice came out muffled.

"We all fell asleep doing paperwork, everyone did." She glanced over her shoulder at the two sleeping forms of her team. "I need to get out of here. It's too cramped. I've got to move."

Tony shifted his weight. She poked him. "Come one. Let's go."

"Where?"

"Anywhere."

Still groaning, he fished out his car keys and staggered to his feet. "Fine."

Behind the wheel, he turned to ask her again. "Where to?"

Her answer was still the same. "Anywhere."

Turning on the ignition, he drove out of the parking lot and into the empty streets. Bright neon lights advertising various things lined the streets as they pulled onto the highway. Kate said nothing as they chugged forward.

They drove all night, with little conversation. Tony felt wildly awake all of a sudden. Sleep had left him, his senses were sharp, and he wanted to just _live_. At last, the highway ceased, and eventually, the two found themselves on a little dirt path. The gas gauge read EMPTY. As the engine sputtered to a stop, Tony turned to Kate for the third time. "Now what?"

She opened the car door and went out. "We walk."

He followed her without reason. For with reason, he would've surely put his foot down and demand to know why she was acting so weird. They now walked, instead of drove, in silence, their shoes making a dry crunching sound on the worn path. It was still dark, but with a slit of light forming on the horizon.

They walked for a long time. Normally, Tony would've complained to no end about his tired feet, but today, he made no comment. When the sun was high in the sky, they reached a small town, and the dirt path was suddenly flanked by street vendors selling their wares.

Without a word, Kate pulled out her wallet and bought a disposable camera from a stand. "To record this day with," she said simply, and tossed it to Tony, who caught it. Grabbing a sombrero from a nearby seller, she slapped it on and posed. "Take one," she called to him, and motioned to the camera. He positioned it just right and snapped a picture.

They spent the day like that, buying worthless things and taking pictures. Kate was laughing in all of them. When one camera was used up, they bought another one, and another. They asked a stranger to take a picture of them both, and he looked at them like they were aliens, but obliged. They pretended that they were a married couple and examined a stand selling baby clothes. They pretended that they were teenagers on Spring Break. They pretended that they were each other. They pretended to be anyone but themselves.

When the sun dipped into the hills, Kate and Tony were loaded with junk and memories. They paused another stranger and asked him to take another picture of the both of them. Tony positioned themselves so that he and Kate were standing against the backdrop of the sunset, its smearing colors fading to darkness. As the stranger counted, "3…2…1…" Tony dipped his head low and kissed Kate. She didn't pull away. The camera snapped. There were no more pictures left to be taken. And Gibbs called, whirling them away from the little piece of paradise they'd found.

The next day, she went away, and she never came back.

**Fin**

* * *

Where did she go? That's up to you to decide.

Short fic, but it was killing me. I had to get it out. Hope you liked it.

7 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes til the season premiere!


End file.
